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| - This is the kind of restaurant that I deeply appreciate. Family-owned. Off the main roads. Charming interior. Unique staff. WONDERFUL FOOD. (We called this our "less-expensive Casbah" when we left).
Like everywhere we end up going, we go because a Yelp review we have read, that inspired us to give it a try. We new it was BYOB, but we weren't in the mood for drinking, so we walked on over. It was our own fault that we got there, at 5:00pm, on the dot - and they were not quite ready to be opened, as they were finishing setting up the tables. My boyfriend and I took a quick walk around Ellsworth. It's a family-owned business where they turned their front garage into the most charming, artsy-like, romantic restaurant. We'll cut them some slack!
When we got back, they were ready for us; and we chose to snag a table outside (they thought we were nuts). However, in one of the reviews, we read that they had no A/C, which was a big selling point for us (I absolutely loathe going into a freezing cold, A/C'd out restaurant, and being forced to bring a hoodie with me, when it's 90+ outside. And we do kind of like hot, humid, and muggy); but, I guess they have upgraded because the A/C was BLASTING on the inside of the restaurant.
We started off with the Gazpacho. This was a perfect summer starter because it was cool, extremely flavorful, and a natural air conditioner to the body. It had lumps of shrimp and crab meat at the bottom, which made us feel like we were eating somewhere on Duval St. in Key West. I normally don't like cilantro, but the cilantro was so subtle and completely rounded out the flavor. When our waitress brought out the freshly baked loaf of corn bread, we sopped up the rest of it. It is true, the wait staff genuinely appreciates your compliments and feels honored every time you say you enjoyed something.
I ordered the Wild Mushroom Ravioli and my boyfriend ordered the Lamb Burger. When our dishes came out, they were the most beautiful dishes I had ever seen - full of color, wonderful portion sizing, and aromas just attacking the olfactory with sensational goodness. My Ravs were topped with this grape tomato paquillo sauce, which tasted like it had hints of red pepper also. It was FANTASTIC. Plus, there were whole mushrooms, okra, carrots, and cauliflower on top of the dish as well. I don't know what kind of separate seasonings were on the veggies, but they were to-die-for also. I can't exactly remember how many Ravs were in my bowl, but every time I thought I was finished, there was another ravioli to be found, and then another. For the price - I think there were a total of 10 fully-stuffed, hand-made mushroom ravs. Incredible.
My boyfriend's Lamb Burger came with a cranberry and raisin jam (but "jam" seems to cliché of a word for this topping), and a salad that had slices of apples in it. Now I'm usually not one to eat sweeter tasting foods; however, the complementing of sweet and savory in this dish blew my mind. I'm also not a big fruit eater (unless it's blended in a smoothie), but I totally got past all that because the flavors and the textures all are playing nicely with one another.
We opted out of dessert because we were so stuffed. But our bill for an appetizer and two filling, insanely delicious entrees came to $40. DING DING DING DING DING! WE HAVE FOUND A WINNER!
After dinner the owner came over to our table and we were introduced. What a wonderful, sweet, and genuine older guy. We will definitely be back before the menu changes again; and next time, we're going for entrees and dessert!!
One last thing - it is a Cash Only restaurant, but they do have an ATM on-site.
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